Editor’s Note: Below are spoilers for Westworld Season 4 Episode 4. back when Western world first started, back in 2016, by Bernard Lowe (Geoffrey Wright) the position in this Wild West-themed sci-fi world was quite unique. He was a realistic android or host who was aware of the existence of others of his kind, but considered himself a normal human. Now, four years and three and a half seasons after the first episode aired on HBO, Bernard is not only aware of his nature, but knows far more than any of his fellow hosts. For example, now he can see the future. Or rather futures.
season 4 Western world placed Bernard in a select host group with special powers, a VIP club that includes Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), which is now held by Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) body and Maeve (Tandive Newton) as its most prominent members. In fact, the show is very close to creating a whole new God Tier for Bernard, as his powers seem to be unmatched so far. But what exactly can Bernard do? How did we get here? And, perhaps most importantly, what does this mean for the upcoming battle for humanity?
Valley Beyond and Rescue from the Clementine Virus
Back in Season 3, we learned that Bernard had in his mind the encryption key for the entire Delos database. After the massacre of Wyatt and the release of Clementine (Angela Sarafyan) at the end of Season 2, Bernard uploaded the data contained in the Forge to one of Delos’ many satellites. The Forge, if you don’t remember, was the place where Delos kept information about everyone who ever visited any of the parks, with the goal of offering a more personalized service, looking for a way to transfer human consciousness to the hosts on the lower level. . However, the data contained in the Forge was not only composed of human thoughts. Unbeknownst to Delos, Westworld founder Ford (Anthony Hopkins) used the supply of the Forge to store a small thing that he called the Beyond Valley.
Also known as the Exalted, the Beyond Valley is a kind of afterlife where hosts can shed their physical bodies and live freely in a world without humans. Again, back in Season 2, many took the risk jumping through the Door to the Beyond Valley before the Clementine Virus arrived. Among them were the youngest daughter Maeve and the Ghost Nation warrior Akecheta (Zahn McClarnon).
season 3 Western world ended with Bernard using his encryption key to gain access to the Sublime while Engerround Serac (Vincent Cassel) foolishly rummaged through Dolores’ mind for access to the Delos data. He spent 30 years completely still, guarded by Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) exploring what Valley Beyond has to offer. When he finally woke up, his body was covered in dust and his mind was running at a completely new frequency.
How does Sublime work for hosts?
Season 4, Episode 3, “Annees Folles”, gives us a glimpse of what Bernard’s time in Sublime was like. In the first few scenes, we see his son’s version luring Bernard out of Ford’s house into a field with a burning tree. This biblical image (the tree is a direct reference to the burning bush that God spoke to Moses about) already suggests the power that Bernard will have when he returns to the material world. In addition to the tree, he also has visions of Sweetwater, Wyatt’s massacre, and what appears to be the aftermath of the real world unrest. Following the white horse, he reaches an equally white building, inside which he is greeted by a very well-dressed Akecheta.
A former Ghost Nation racer explains to Bernard the limitless nature of the Exalted. Those who manage to travel there have the ability to create personalized worlds. In reality, the world in which Bernard and Akecheta meet is the product of Bernard’s own mind, a recreation of the past that should help him find a way to save “the world outside”. What Bernard doesn’t know is that the solution to his problems is not in the past, but in the future. Or many future ones. As Akecheta tells him, time in the Exalted does not work quite like it does in the real world: a year outside corresponds to a whole millennium in the Beyond Valley. The hosts spend their extended time creating multiple worlds, and Bernard can use this power to create simulations of various possible futures.
So, when Bernard wakes up, he doesn’t have a clear vision of one single future, but a damn good idea of what might happen, what is the likelihood of something happening, and what events are connected to each other. There are many paths to the future, and Bernard can see them all. He becomes omniscient by seeing all the worlds that could be and all that could still happen. Bernard can even deduce everything that is currently happening, and everything else that might happen, from seemingly innocuous things. For example, when he asks Stubbs out for breakfast, the fact that he agrees to a tuna sandwich helps him realize that there is still a chance to beat Charlotte/Dolores. If Stubbs had ordered BLT, things might have been different…
How does Bernard know C?
Using this infinite database of past and future probabilities, Bernard can learn C(Aurora Perrineau) real identity and where to find Maeve’s body: he saw their life and death play out in front of him. However, he can’t tell for sure if the rebels will kill them or not, because there’s always a chance they will, even if in most scenarios both he and Stubbs survive, at least for now.
There are many negative scenarios running through Bernard’s head, and few positive outcomes. From Bernard’s conversation with Akecheta, one gets the impression that there is only one possible way to save humanity. To achieve this goal, a very specific chain of events must be set in motion. In every possible scenario, Bernard dies and Akecheta makes it clear that after a certain point, all paths end in destruction. Bernard must act quickly to save the world he loves so much.
Western world Airs Sundays on HBO. Episodes are available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: Collider
